


School Troubles

by ghostanimal



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Danny says FUCK, Lots of Cursing, Lots of Danny being Sassy and bitter, Oneshot, Trans Danny, Trans Danny Fenton, trans!Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 23:16:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21346381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostanimal/pseuds/ghostanimal
Summary: Oneshot: Jack and Maddie take Vlad's "generous" offer of putting a troubled, failing and sleeping in class Danny into a snobby rich kid academy. Written as a follower count winner prize for the-screaming-hunter on tumblr.
Comments: 37
Kudos: 359
Collections: DanPhanWritingPrompts, Finished111





	School Troubles

**Author's Note:**

> Rating: T for cursing
> 
> Inspiration: danphanwritingprompts on tumblr, but also for writing contest winner the-screaming-hunter on tumblr
> 
> Pairings: N/A
> 
> Warnings: Lots of cursing, lots of bullying of a snobby rich kid
> 
> Other Notes: Danny's trans

"Danny, this is becoming a problem."

Danny sighed. He had heard these exact words before, and now was nothing different. He leaned forward on the couch to rest his elbows on his knees as he listened to his mom.

"Your grades are slipping, you're shirking from your chores," his mom began to list, "you're coming home late, skipping classes and school."

"Mom, I'm sorry, it's just-" Danny began, but his mom cut him off.

"No, Danny. I'm sorry won't cut it anymore," Maddie cut him off, putting her fists on her hips. "This is becoming a very serious problem. If you want to become an astronaut, you need to really shape up. At this rate, you won't have the grades to attend a good college. Honey, we're worried."

Danny's stomach turned. He already knew that this dream was no longer a reality, and the lecture was a gut punch. He heard a small hum from the corner, and Danny shot the source a glare, eyes flashing briefly. Of course, this go around, it wasn't his supportive older sister sitting in the armchair. It was good old V-man lounging with a cup of tea, Jack sitting across from him in the other armchair while Maddie stood before Danny for the lecture. Of all days for Vlad to "drop in" for a visit…

"You know, Maddie, I think I have a solution for you," Vlad began.

"You do?" Jack finally spoke up. Maddie shared the curious glare. Vlad stood up, brushing off imaginary dirt as he set his tea cup down. He clasped his hands together.

"I propose that you allow me to send Daniel to Polter High," he replied. Maddie's eyes grew wide.

"Oh Vlad, you've already been so generous with Jazz, we couldn't possibly," Maddie began, but Vlad cut her off, immediately going to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh Maddie, I have all the money in the world, and Jasmine and Daniel, you know I love them like they're my own." Danny glared at Vlad, flashing him green eyes. Both at the dangerous offer territory he was treading, but also his word choice. Vlad had stolen the brief glance, giving a small smirk. "I couldn't just let Jasmine go to Yale with all those dreadful student loans, and Polter High is one of the best private college prep high schools in the states. I only regret not giving my offer sooner. With a high school like that, he couldn't possibly get into more trouble. They heavily prioritize education. I doubt he can get away with skipping classes or just not doing homework, especially with their state of the art security cameras and that ghost shield that prevents any distractions. And that fence, you can never scale it, it's nearly twelve feet tall and meant to prevent anybody from breaking in. He can start over kind of fresh, with nobody knowing about his past, which will decrease that dreadful bullying and locker room drama. I'll even send for a driver to personally escort him, so you can be assured that he gets to school on time."

Maddie glanced over at Danny, and he didn't like the look she was giving him. She was considering it. A blur of orange and black distracted him. Danny sat up straight when he saw his dad giving Vlad a death hug, almost teary-eyed.

"Oh Vlad! You're too good to us!" Jack choked out, and Danny rubbed his face. This wasn't a good sign.

"Jack, breathing," Vlad managed to choke out before the man let go of him. Vlad gave him the briefest of glare before masking the anger, smiling brightly. "Maddie, it's for Daniel's education." Maddie bit a knuckle, glancing between Vlad and Danny.

"...I guess it couldn't hurt to at least interview and talk to the school," she said slowly.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Danny questioned aloud. Nobody replied.

* * *

"This is the worst day of my life," Danny declared. Maddie shot him a sympathetic smile. Danny stood before his parents in a uniform, a really expensive one, carrying a new backpack full to the brim with new school supplies.

The uniform was, to its credit, a bit flexible that allowed for a polo or button up shirt and pants or skirt, with some color variation options. Four whole colors to be specific for shirts, and two for pants and skirts. School sweaters, jackets and sweater vests only. Danny had opted for the red sweater-vest with the school's logo over a white button up shirt and black khaki pants with a matching brown belt to brown dressier shoes. Ties were, fortunately, not mandatory, though encouraged.

Of course, Vlad had insisted on paying for all. Thankfully, he was too busy to actually do shopping, but he had given Maddie one of his credit cards and permission to use it on whatever needed. Including a bunch of new and comfortable binders, a dark gray and blue NASA backpack with matching lunchbox and thermos, a new laptop, fancy calculator, and all the other school supplies that Polter Heights had insisted he needed.

And this wasn't even taking into account the entire fence and ghost shield situation. During that tour, which Vlad had _insisted_ on coming with, he had seen that iron fence. It was too hard to just climb, he could never truly justify how Fenton could go. Danny had smugly told Vlad in private that the ghost shield would out them both. Until Vlad had replied with an equally smug fact about this ghost shield. Danny could come and go as he pleased as a human. But he couldn't enter or leave as a ghost. And good luck getting out of the fenced area as Fenton. It was prison: high school edition.

Danny adjusted his heavy backpack, complete with Fenton Thermos on the side in place of a water bottle. Just in case.

"It's not going to be so bad," Maddie insisted, and she reached out to put his hands on his shoulders. "A nice, fresh new start, people normally don't get those. You look handsome, and there's that Astrophysics Club tomorrow that the principal said still accepting members. You're going to do great."

"Great. I can calculate with the snob circle how much energy I need to fling my corpse into the sun," he replied dryly. Maddie frowned at him.

"Danny, be good," she spoke with a harshly warning undertone. He winced, and he readjusted his shoulder strap.

"Yes ma'am," he muttered. She pecked his forehead.

"Have a good day," she told him, and Danny made an odd noise of annoyance in return as he went to the front door. He opened it, and he closed his eyes, exhaling hard.

One of Vlad's limos was waiting, as promised. The driver, a man in a pressed uniform with sunglasses and a hat, stood outside patiently by the door. Danny had been really hoping that Vlad would have sent a normal ride. Not a rich kid ride.

He forced himself to go down the stairs, his mom watching him like a hawk as he approached the vehicle. The driver opened the door for him, and Danny stared into the interior. He stole a glance back at his mom before slipping inside. The door shut behind him, and a moment later, he could see through the window the driver get into the car.

"Are you ready, Mr. Fenton?" the driver questioned, buckling himself in. Danny sighed, leaning back into a seat.

"Ready for the funeral? Indeed. Drive away. To the space center, I want my ashes launched into space."

Danny could see the man twitch an amused smile as the vehicle started up.

"Sorry, Mr. Fenton. Your funeral is at Polter High," the man replied. Danny couldn't help but chuckle. It was too true. "You can control the radio back there. The bar is also supplied with sodas and juice, and I was instructed to bring you some donuts. They should be back there somewhere."

Danny's interest was peaked at the idea of food, and he soon spotted the box on top of the bar. It was pressed into a space just a tad too small for it, bending the box a bit but assuring that it wouldn't fly off during the drive. Danny eagerly shifted to grab the box. After a moment of shuffling, he had a bottle of orange juice too. Before he could dig in, his ghost sense went off, and he paused. He glanced to the driver.

"Um, can I? Roll the window up?" he questioned. "Not that I don't enjoy your company, uh,"

"You can call me Lars."

"Uh, cool. Lars. Where's the driver's window button?" Danny peered around for the button on the display of multiple buttons.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fenton. But if you're intending on chasing that ghost, I'm afraid I was instructed to disallow such distractions from your education."

Danny's eyes widened as, a button pushed by Lars later, and the entire limo glowed a light green. He pressed himself to the sides, trying to phase his hand through. No luck. He glanced at Lars. The driver no longer looked like a human, but instead was a blonde with light green skin.

"Of course. Of fucking course," Danny cursed to himself, slamming his fists on the windows. He pressed his face to it, and he could see a blur in the sky as a ghost zoomed by.

"The button's near the radio," Lars replied, and he pressed a button from his control panel. Danny glared at him as the window slowly rolled up, separating them.

* * *

"Have a good day at school, Mr. Fenton."

"You didn't have to zap me with the Plasmius Maximus. Or carry me into the office."

Lars gave a light hum. He had changed back to where he appeared more human, and he adjusted his hat a bit. The two stood in the front office as the secretary was fetching some paperwork.

"Given the ten minute freak out in the limo, it was likely for the best. Mr. Masters isn't going to be pleased with the state of the limo interior," Lars told him. Danny scowled, crossing his arms. "You made quite the entrance. You're a lot more nimble than you look."

"You're just lucky that you don't have to breathe, otherwise that leglock would have really brought you down," Danny muttered. Lars chuckled, and the secretary came back to hand Danny his papers and locker information. She was a fairly plain office lady, like many of the school secretaries Danny had encountered over the years. Danny took it with a small "thanks" and stared at the paper in his hands.

"See you at 3, Mr. Fenton," Lars told him. With a light tip of his hat, he left the office through the open door, going against the crowd of students beginning to trickle in.

Danny stared at the schedule in his hands. The school wasn't that large, especially compared to Casper High. But these classes still just _sounded_ so heavy. Their names were much longer and detailed than the ones at his old school. He glanced at the clock, his heart twisting. By now, Tucker and Sam would have met up with him for first period. English. He could see a blur of students in uniforms similar to him, a sea of black, blue and red as they started to crowd the halls.

"Do you know where to go, honey?" the secretary asked. Danny glanced over to her, giving a shrug. "One sec!" She stood up from her chair, going around the desk to the door to the office door. She peeked outside before waving down the tallest kid Danny had ever seen in his life. Even taller than Dash, almost as tall as his dad. "Jeremy! Jeremy, sweetie? Can you come here for a moment?" The kid gave her a questioning look, but came over.

"Sup Mrs. J?" he asked. This kid, Jeremy, looked so out of place, but Danny couldn't quite place what it was. He had a navy blue polo with a white long sleeve underneath it and black pants with a black belt and red and black shoes. His dark, dark brown hair was in a bun, likely to get away with the "boys' hair cannot touch the collar of their shirts" rule on the technicality, but some bangs fell in his face. Danny couldn't help but notice that he didn't carry any kind of backpack, but instead only carried a thick black notebook.

"Can you be a dear and show Danny around? Be his tour guide? It's his first day," she said. Jeremy stared at him, studying him intensely before exhaling slightly, sounding annoyed.

"Sure. Come on, dude," Jeremy waved him over. Danny hesitantly took a few steps forward. Instead of asking Danny for his schedule, the kid plucked it from his hands. He looked over it, giving a surprised hum. "You're in Honors Chem and Honors Physics."

Danny shifted from foot to foot. He had to take a test to determine what classes he would be in. Even though he did poorly at Casper High, all the afternoons in the lab and his own interest in the subjects had placed Danny higher academically than his parents, and Danny himself, expected.

"Yeah," was all he could think to say. "Are you in either one?" Jeremy handed his paper back to him.

"Yeah. Honors Chem, but I'm in AP Physics," he explained. "Right now you have what? English? With Mr. Perkins?" Danny glanced at the schedule. Danny nodded. "Cool. That's not too far from here."

"That's fine and dandy, but can I drop some of this off at my locker first?" Danny asked, his voice dipping in exhaustion. All the new schedule memorizing, a new locker combo, his friends gone. "I don't have a butler to carry my shit around." Jeremy rolled his eyes at him.

"Yeah, unfortunately they only let students come on campus and do their own work during school hours," Jeremy remarked. "What's your locker?"

"427." Jeremy shrugged.

"You're close to me then," he replied, and he motioned for Danny to follow. Danny did.

He got a few stares and questioning looks from the students as he followed the other through the halls. It was like they instantly knew that he was new. Made sense. There was a significantly smaller amount of students here, something that had Vlad had pitched to his parents that sealed the deal. It'd take a while to blend into the woodwork here like at Casper High.

Casper High. His stomach flopped. He reached into his pocket to check his phone, and he smiled a bit. His heart was warmed by the encouraging messages Tucker and Sam both had sent earlier, as well as Jazz's words of wisdom.

"So what's your deal?" Jeremy's words interrupted his reading. Danny snapped his attention up to the other. Jeremy was glancing back at him before he lightly tapped a knuckle on a locker. Danny noticed it was 427, and he stopped to open it.

"70/30, take it or walk," Danny replied dryly. Jeremy snickered. He didn't go to a locker of his own, instead leaning against one of the lockers near Danny.

"I mean, why are you here?" Jeremy clarified. Danny shrugged as he began to unload his backpack.

"I'm sixteen, I don't get to make big choices for myself yet until I decide which college I wanna go into crippling debt with," Danny shrugged once more as he put half of the textbooks in the locker. He decided to keep the laptop and two of the textbooks for now. He glanced at Jeremy, who was raising an eyebrow at him. "But my dad's friend paid for me to go here." The student had a thoughtful look. "Why?"

"Hm. You're in an odd group then," Jeremy mused. Danny put his lunch stuff in the locker, staring at Jeremy. He noticed part of what felt so off about him, especially after seeing several other students by now. "I was just wondering. Not many new students, and you look like you could be another rich kid but you have the grades and attitude of a scholarship kid. I'm one of the latter."

Jeremy's clothes didn't quite fit him. He wore a white shirt underneath the navy polo shirt because the shirt was a bit short on him, same with his pants. The pants were also being clearly held up by his belt. While it was to Polter High standards, the uniform, compared to Danny's, also looked noticeably a bit worn and older, not as pressed and new. A second hand uniform.

"There's a difference?" Danny was almost dumbfounded as he closed his locker. Jeremy shrugged.

"Lot of the rich kids are kind of jerks to the scholarship kids because we actually have the brains and drive to make our own path in life rather than relying on daddy's money," Jeremy said matter-of-factly. "They paid to get into here, but I got in here because of my actual brains. Most of them don't even do their own homework. Or homework in general."

"How do you know they don't do their homework?" Danny slung his backpack back onto his shoulders.

"My sister and I are like, the only scholarship kids that live in the dorms here, and we see both the guys and girls do a lot of partying and basically hire people from the local community college to do their homework," he explained.

"You guys such brainiacs that you wanted to live at school too?" Danny wondered. Jeremy reached over and slapped the back of his head. Danny flinched and rubbed at the spot.

"We don't have a car, and I'm not walking from Elmerton to here every day," he scowled. "Polter High doesn't have a bus."

"Wait, there's no bus?"

"School's full of rich kids, they have their butlers or nannies or whoever's pretending to love them bring them here, and scholarship kids normally get driven here by their parents. Or if they live too far away they just live here, boarding school style." Jeremy sounded tired. "Damn, for such a smartass you're really dumb." Danny glared at him.

"Don't you have a rich kid to mug or something?"

"Not until lunch time." Jeremy pointed down the hall. "Down there, to the left, on your right should be your English."

"You're a bad tour guide," Danny complained. He glanced over the paper again. "Which door would it be?"

"Look, I'm going to put a lot of faith in the idea that you can read and assume you can take it from there." Jeremy lightly waved at him as he began to walk off. "If you get lost, go out the main doors and back to kindergarten."

"Cool, see you there. I'll bring juice to your time out corner," Danny called after him.

He exhaled deeply, doing down the hall Jeremy had pointed him towards, opposite the way the student had gone. He turned left, looking up at the classroom doors. The halfa just knew that people were staring at him and occasionally pointing him out, the new kid, but he ignored it. He focused on the classroom doors until he came to his English one.

He hesitantly opened the door. The classroom was smaller than he expected, with only about twenty seats. Danny felt somebody lightly nudge at his back, and he jumped a bit and glanced over his shoulder. He flushed a bit at seeing an impatient-looking guy standing behind him, and the halfa took a few steps inside. Danny looked at the seats. Only a few were occupied, and he hesitantly took a seat in one in the first row.

The bell rang, and soon, students began to trickle in. A boy with dark red hair came in, and light gray eyes locked with his. Danny felt a small shiver. The boy's face soured the second he saw Danny. He immediately rushed towards Danny.

"You're in my seat," he told Danny coldly, a hint of a British accent in his voice. Danny winced.

"Sorry," he apologized, and he began to stand up. The boy put a hand up to stop him, and Danny did, staring confused up at the other.

"What makes you think you can just sit in my seat?" he asked. Danny leaned back in his seat a bit. Great. Another Dash.

"Because I'm new here, and despite having never seen you before or knowing your name or knowing that this is your chair, I decided to sit here purely to spite and anger you specifically," he replied. The boy's face immediately turned red, cheeks puffing out angrily.

"Do you think you're funny?" he hissed. Danny shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Nobody's laughing!" the red-head half-yelled.

"Mr. Kennedy, is there a problem?" a deep, booming voice called out. Danny snapped his head to the corner, where an adult was sitting at a desk. He was shaved bald but had a thick beard and glasses. The boy, Kennedy, looked like he was about to explode.

"Mr. Perkins, he's in my seat!" he loudly spoke, pointing angrily at Danny, hand shaking. The teacher glanced at Danny, then looked at something on his desk.

"Are you Daniel Fenton?" he questioned.

"Only sometimes," Danny replied honestly. The teacher didn't look amused, and Danny felt a twinge of pain. If Tucker were here, he'd be holding back snickers at the joke, and Sam would be rolling her eyes, pretending she was annoyed but she always smiled at the dumb things he said. He missed them both.

"Well, Mr. Fenton, we have a seating chart," the teacher began, but he cut himself off. He stared down at his desk before marking something on a piece of paper. "Actually, stay there. Mr. Kennedy, why don't you take the empty seat?"

"But that's my seat!" Kennedy protested. His face grew redder with anger by the minute, matching his red button-up, a navy blue sweater vest over it.

"Mr. Kennedy," the teacher spoke sharply, giving him a Look.

Kennedy gave a low, angry growl and unhappily walked towards the last row, towards an empty seat. He plopped into it, angrily gripping onto the edge of the desk, knuckles turning white. Danny could feel the student glaring at him, but tried to ignore it. He turned his attention to the front as the bell signaling that class was to start rang.

* * *

Danny sighed as he exchanged his books at his locker. Second period was math. And now he was off to art history. Ugh. Not his first choice. Or even any choice, but it was the only elective that'd fit his schedule and had a free seat.

He shut his locker, and he dragged himself to the class. Hopefully by the time fourth period rolled around, his ghost powers would be back.

He entered the room, and he sighed. Kennedy was already in a seat, and soon as he saw Danny, he scowled. A few other students were already seated and keeping busy until class began.

"Here to steal my seat?" he huffed. Danny huffed back as he came to stand in front of his desk.

"Yes. I specifically came here and will continue to follow you all day to steal your stupid seat. So move," Danny replied, earning an amused snicker from his classmates. Kennedy immediately flushed red with anger.

"You think you're soooo hilarious!" Kennedy grumbled, clenching his fists. Danny shrugged.

"I've always wanted to be a clown, but I see now that I'm going up against a prodigy."

Kennedy slammed his hands on his desk, standing up. His face was as red as his hair.

"Are you calling _me_ a clown!?"

"If the really oversized shoe fits, dude."

"Sit down and shut up before you have a stroke," a dark haired girl spoke up with a sigh of exhaustion. Kennedy turned to face her.

"I'm not gonna take lip from a poor kid!" he snapped.

"How about a heel up the ass?" she offered.

"I'll sue you!" Kennedy threatened. He turned to Danny. "And I'll sue you too!" Danny rolled his eyes.

"You're new?" the girl more stated than asked. Danny nodded. She patted the chair next to her. "This seat's empty."

"Wait, are _you_ poor?" Kennedy interrupted with his blunt question towards Danny.

"Gimme your seat, and I'll tell you," Danny replied. Kennedy made a face before plopping back into his seat and crossing his arms stubbornly.

Danny walked past him down the rows of tables and chairs, putting his bag on the table and taking a seat next to the girl.

"Ignore that pickled fruitcake," she immediately told him.

"I can hear you!" Kennedy scowled.

"Nobody cares," Danny said.

"I'm Melissa," the girl introduced herself. She looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. She had pin straight dark, dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail with sidebangs, and her uniform, while clean and neat, was a bit noticeably worn. "My brother, we're twins, said you would be in my class. Jeremy? He showed you around apparently." Oh! Now that she said that, he could see it clearly. They had the same eyes and nose. "Do you wanna sit with us at lunch?"

"I don't think your brother would like that," Danny commented, even though the idea honestly sounded appealing. There was something about her that was bringing an instant relaxed feeling to him. A safe feeling. She shrugged.

"He can eat dirt then," she replied. Danny snorted. "It's always nice to have a new face around here."

"I thought he looked new," a voice piped in. Danny followed Melissa's gaze to see a girl with light brown-blonde hair and brown eyes that sat in front of them. Her uniform looked pressed and new, and Danny noticed that she wore a lot of jewelry. Four ear piercings in each ear, all decorated with what looked like sparkling diamonds, as well as two necklaces and five rings. "You're the mayor's nephew." Danny flinched.

"He's my godfather," he corrected. The girl gave a curious hum.

"I'm Sophie Belvon," she introduced herself. "My daddy owns the luxury hotel chain of the same name."

"Danny Fenton," he replied. "My parents once accidentally covered a Belvon hotel lobby in ectoplasm because my dad's ghost vacuum exploded, and we've never been allowed back at one since." Sophie stared at him with a confused, blank look.

"FentonWorks, right?" Melissa spoke up. Danny nodded. "We pass it all the time on the bus home on the weekends."

"I thought Polter Heights didn't have a bus?" he asked.

"Public bus," Melissa clarified. Sophie made a face.

"Ugh, I dunno how you can go on a public bus," she spoke with a clear indication of being grossed out. "They always look so dirty and there's really poor people on there." Melissa rolled her eyes.

"Sophie, _I'm_ poor," she reminded her.

"But you go here?" Sophie returned to blankly staring at them. "I don't get it, like, you go here, and it costs money to go here. They wouldn't let poor people in. How would they make money?"

"Scholarships," Danny replied. He jerked a thumb to Melissa. "She's here on scholarship, and others are too."

"A scholarship's just a boat though?" Sophie pointed out, rolling her eyes as if it's obvious. "It's in the name, dummy. But if you own a boat, you gotta have like, money of some kind. Boats are expensive, and like, who cares if you came in on a boat or in a car? Like it doesn't really matter, you still have to pay to get here, and the price of education's like, a lot of money. It shouldn't matter if you come in on a scholarship or in a limo."

"Oh honey," Melissa said softly. Danny felt that statement in his soul.

Thankfully, the bell prevented anymore mind melting conversation.

* * *

Fourth period was to bring an unintentional giddy excitement to Danny for multiple reasons. It was Honors Chemistry. Firstly, holy shit he was actually in an honors class. Secondly, while he wasn't really good company the first go around, at least Danny would walk in knowing at least one semi-familiar face that wasn't barking at him over seating arrangements. And lastly, Danny could feel his powers returning to him.

As he exchanged his books in his lockers, he briefly let his hand glow in the privacy of the dark. To his delight, his hand lit up. Yes, yes! He had his powers back! He could slip away at any time!

Somebody nudged his back. He quickly turned to see Melissa smiling at him.

"Come on, it's break," she urged him. Break? She must have seen his confusion, because she clarified, "We get a fifteen minute break in between third and fourth period. Come on."

She motioned for him to follow her as she began to half-skip down the hall. Danny closed his locker and followed. They reached a door that lead to outside, but not the main entrance doors that he was familiar with. It was a sidedoor, and it specifically had a sign stating to not leave the building via that door. It was almost hidden by a giant potted plant with long leaves that nearly touched the floor.

Melissa stared up at the ceiling, and Danny followed her gaze to watch a security camera that did an automatic lazy sweep of the hallways. His heart pounded. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He had forgotten all about the cameras Vlad mentioned. Now he was thankful that Lars had zapped him earlier. God, and that ghost shield, the fence. Fuck, how was Amity Park supposed to stay safe? How was he supposed to leave to do anything as Phantom? He could never scale that fence as Fenton, it was too high and had sharp points on the top.

When the camera looked away, she quickly pushed some of the leaves aside, opened the door and slipped through it. Danny followed. Some of the leaves smacked him in the face, and he made a face as he fumbled to push them out of his line of sight.

It led to a medium sized side yard that was closed in via a brick wall, the only other entrance/exit being a giant wooden fence for trash collectors to come and empty the giant dumpster that occupied part of the space. The space had that lingering scent of rotten trash, but it was overall not unbearable. There was a small grouping of students already there, a teen girl and guy, and Jeremy. The guy was sitting on a stack of bricks that was seemingly just left abandoned there after building the wall, now nearly arranged to resemble a bench of sorts. The others stood. Jeremy snapped his head towards the door. He had a cigarette in his mouth, and he frowned. He took the cigarette out and exhaled tiredly, smoke blowing out.

"Mel, why'd you bring him here?" he complained.

"He's new, and just, yaknow," Melissa shrugged. "He gives off the vibe."

"He gives off the vibe of being a little bitch, that's his vibe," Jeremy scowled. Melissa gave him a Look.

"Matches your vibe of being an oversized fuckhead," Danny snapped back. Jeremy let out a chuckle. He took another huff of his cigarette.

"You may be onto something, he's too funny to be straight," Jeremy replied. He exhaled a bunch of smoke, flicking some ash onto the ground. His eyes fell on Danny. "So. She's a lesbian." Jeremy pointed at his sister. "And I'm bi." He didn't acknowledge the other two teens, who had simply stayed silent, staring on.

"I'm," Danny briefly hesitated. "I'm uh, trans." Melissa's eyes lit up. She shot Jeremy a smug look, an _I Told You So_. Jeremy lightly punched her arm. She punched him back.

"So do you want us to still call you Danny, or?" Melissa questioned.

"Oh, I'm a guy," Danny quickly clarified. "I'm Danny, please call me Danny." Melissa nodded understandingly. She glanced at the guy behind her, one of the silent teens who seemed to brighten up at the news.

"I'm Rachel," the guy introduced himself eagerly. "I'm trans too, but uh, I can't. Right now, I have to wait. My parents don't know."

"We call her RJ in school," Jeremy told Danny. Danny smiled warmly at his fellow trans.

"Hi," he greeted her. She had hair that reminded him of Sam. While it was a light blonde, she had it pulled up into a fake half-ponytail to expose an undercut. She had an oversized hoodie on, the sleeves pushed up and despite looking a bit overheated, as well as tan pants. Danny knew that hoodie feeling too well.

"I'm Amy," the last girl spoke up. She had waist length long brown, braided hair, wearing a skirt and polo shirt. "I'm asexual. Welcome to our little unofficial club."

"And this is where we normally chill out, because there's no camera around here so we have a lot of privacy to just talk about whatever, and Jeremy can smoke," Rachel explained. She pointed to the ceiling. Danny looked, and she was right. There was no camera outside the building looking at them. Perfect, he just found his go-to spot for going ghost. "Just gotta make sure that one camera right by the door doesn't see you. But uh, this place isn't really secret either though. Lots of people know about it, but typically only we ever really hang out here." Hmm. That could be an issue.

"During school anyway, after school almost everybody drops by around here to smoke or hook up," Jeremy corrected her. She nodded. "Most people don't linger here like we will, because of the dumpster smell."

"Yeah, but this is the safest thing we got right now so, uh. Cherish it," Melissa replied. "We tried to organize a student club, but the school denied us for not having enough members."

"Not enough members my fucking ass," Amy muttered. "It's a bullshit policy. Not worth fighting though, so we're just dealing."

The door opened, and they all turned their attention to the newcomer. Kennedy stood before them, holding a pack of cigarettes before he had stopped to stare at them. Almost as if annoyed that they were there.

"Oh, hey Horny," Jeremy casually greeted before taking another puff. The red-head's face immediately twisted as if he had tasted a lemon, entire face turning dark red. Danny could almost see steam coming out of his ears.

"Stop calling me that!" Kennedy yelled.

"Okay, Corny."

Jeremy had a shit-eating grin at Kennedy's growing anger. Kennedy wasn't anywhere close to Jeremy's height. Kennedy was, actually, about three inches shorter than Danny. Despite this, Kennedy was immediately on his tiptoes in an attempt to get in Jeremy's face.

"It's Kennedy, you garbage eater!" he hissed.

"What's wrong with Cornelius?" Jeremy questioned, snickering. He blew smoke in the other's face, causing his face to scrunch up and cough. "Besides, like, everything?"

"Your first name's Cornelius?" Danny choked out. Kennedy had switched to him instantly, shoving an index finger into Danny's face, so close he nearly touched his nose.

"Shut up," he growled. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on Jeremy's cigarette, despite having his own pack in his hand. "I'll tell the Dean that you're out here smoking." Kennedy turned to look at Danny. "And I'll tell him about how you keep bullying me during class."

"God, are you this emotionally attached to chairs?" Danny was already really tired of this kid. Least Dash would just beat him up or shove him a locker, then let shit go for the most part. "You gotta learn to let things go, my dude. It's just a seat."

"It is NOT just a seat!" he hissed. He reached behind him to grab the door handle to go back inside. "I'm telling the Dean!"

"Tell him what?" Danny challenged. He stared down the other, who was glaring at him. "We were never out here. We were preparing for class."

He made a shooing motion at Kennedy. The teen reluctantly stepped aside, releasing his hold on the door. Danny glanced behind him. Jeremy took a final drag of the cigarette before putting it out on the brick wall and tossing it into the dumpster. Rachel was redoing her ponytail, and Amy smoothing her skirt out. Melissa stretched a bit. Danny opened the door, and one by one, they filed back inside, leaving the redhead outside.

"He's just like his dad. A spineless suck up that will run immediately to tattle on people he doesn't like," Jeremy told Danny. Danny shot him a confused look. "His dad's a Senator." Danny vaguely remembered the possible Senator in question, specifically how much his parents seemed to dislike the politician. "Like dumbass father, like dumbass son."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the break.

"Whelp, time for French," Amy hummed. "See ya guys at lunch."

"What do you have fourth and fifth?" Rachel questioned Danny. The teen dug through his pockets to produce his schedule.

"I have Honors Chem next, then Honors Physics," he replied. Rachel brightened.

"I'll see you fifth period then!" she spoke cheerfully. Danny felt internal relief at knowing that there was going to be somebody he knew there with him.

"Yeah!" he agreed happily. Amy and Rachel walked off together, and Jeremy motioned for Danny to follow him and Melissa.

"We got the same thing," he told him. "We'll be seeing Horny there too, unfortunately."

Danny nodded, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders as they all walked together. They chatted casually, mostly about a newly discovered common interest in comics. Melissa opened the classroom door for them, and they all went inside.

The twins took their seats in the front row, while Danny stood in front of them. This school had seating arrangements everywhere, and he decided to just stay standing until the teacher came inside.

"I hope with every passionate fiber of my being that she makes me take Kennedy's seat," Danny said quietly to Jeremy. The other immediately burst into snickers.

"God, I hope so," he agreed. Melissa didn't say anything, but she smiled in amusement.

Danny continued to stand in front of the classroom a bit awkwardly as he waited for the other students to trickle in. Soon, a woman in her late twenties came in, the obvious teacher. She had on a long, flowy skirt with the periodic table of elements on it with a plain black sleeveless button up shirt, and a short pixie cut. She took immediate notice of Danny as she walked to her desk, a pile of papers in hand.

"Oh, you must be Daniel," she smiled warmly. Danny smiled in return. "I'm Miss Kendrick."

"Yes, but I go by Danny," he clarified. She nodded.

"No problem, we do have a seating arrangement, but hm. Lemme see," she mused, scanning the classroom. Jeremy raised his hand, but he didn't wait for the teacher to call on him.

"Miss Kendrick, since Danny's new, I think he'd really benefit from sitting in the front, and having a strong lab partner that would be able to make sure he's able to keep up with class while he settles in," he said, not even bothering to mask his fake concern. "Maybe a lab partner like Eddie?"

Miss Kendrick's face lit up, and she pointed at Jeremy. Danny stole a glance at Kennedy. His face was turning red with anger and frustration, eye twitching. The teen sitting next to him was a bored looking black teen wearing the standard pressed and clean uniform who looked indifferent to the possible seating change.

"Very good idea," she praised. "Kennedy, you can take the free seat in the third row, and you can partner up with Angelica and Rosemary, just have a group of three."

"But this is my seat!" Kennedy protested. Miss Kendrick shot him a bit of a disappointed look.

"Kennedy, Eddie's one of our best students, and you do well in class anyway. I'd like for Danny to make sure he's seated with somebody who can assure he can keep up with the work while he adjusts," she didn't scold, but spoke with a certain teacher tone that clearly said that this wasn't a debate. "We'll switch lab partners as we always do after the test."

Kennedy didn't move for a while. He stayed sitting for almost a minute before, with an angry and disgusted grumble, picked up his stuff and retreated to the free seat. Danny smiled politely at Eddie, who returned it, as he took the newly free seat.

"Hey, aren't you that dude who nearly choked out his chauffeur?" Eddie questioned. Danny nearly forgot about that, and he nodded with a shrug.

"Gotta make a really lasting first impression somehow," he replied. Eddie snickered, though he didn't get a chance to reply as Miss Kendrick soon called the attention of her students for class to begin.

* * *

Danny stared at the wide range of options with a starved look. His last two classes were so heavy that he had eagerly followed Rachel to the cafeteria. Vlad had told him that the Polter Heights food was delicious, but he absolutely undersold it. It didn't just smell good, it looked incredible, and there was plenty of it. Danny had packed a lunch, but he ended up keeping it packed in his bag and deciding to go with Rachel and his new friend group-of-sorts to get a serving of food from the buffet.

Instead of long benches, the seating reminded him more of a hotel or fancy college dining area. Dozens and dozens of various sized tables with comfortable cushioned chairs, as well as the same for outside seating that was available through doors with large windows.

He eventually settled on diving to grab a plate of lasagna, some garlic bread and fruit and oh hell, why not grab a-grab two-grab four cookies. They looked freshly baked.

"God these look good," he confessed to Rachel, clutching the cookies in his hand before setting them on his tray. She laughed.

"Yeah, the lunch program's worth every cent," she replied. She had a trayful of fries and a burger, with a can of soda. Rachel stared as she saw Jeremy's hand snake in between them to grab a handful of cookies. She gasped upon seeing his tray. "Dude! That's so much food."

"Your point?" Jeremy's tray was almost overflowing. He had two bowls of rice, beef and broccoli, and some grilled chicken. alongside the cookies he had grabbed and some pudding. For drinks, he had two sodas and a big bottle of water.

"You're not gonna eat all of that," she accused him with narrowed eyes. He stared back at her intensely.

"Bitch, watch me. Actually, fuck you, lemme just."

Rachel rolled her eyes as Jeremy picked up a serving of grilled chicken. Melissa soon appeared with a tray of food, as well as an unfamiliar yet familiar face. Another girl, obviously younger than all of them. She almost looked like a shorter version of Melissa, with the same eyes, nose, pin-straight dark, dark brown hair and skin. She said nothing as she stood with them with a tray full of food.

"Alright, you ready to check out, dingus?" Melissa asked her brother, nudging his back. Jeremy flinched and stood up straight, turning, nodding.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Who's this?" Danny couldn't help but question, staring at the newcomer. He had a strong guess, but confirmation was always nice.

"This is our little sister," Jeremy replied. He nodded at the girl. "Juliet, she's a freshman." Juliet said nothing, but she smiled lightly. "It's cheaper for us to all just share one lunch card, cause they don't really limit how much food you can get. You can go feral if you want. You can literally get one of every single item they offer, and nobody will stop you."

"No, there is a limit, and that's clearly past the limit," Melissa argued. "Come on, I wanna eat."

Danny and Rachel followed the trio of siblings to check out. Soon as Juliet was checked out, she said a shy goodbye to them and left to be with a group of fellow freshmen. He blindly followed the remaining group to a small circular table. Jeremy sat down, and he immediately went to town on his rice. The others took it at a slower, more reasonable pace like him. It hit Danny.

"Where's Amy?" he questioned.

"Her mom takes her and her brother out to eat like three times a week," Rachel explained. "She said she was gonna go to that one French place they really like."

"I keep telling her to bring me back frog legs, and she won't," Jeremy half-jokingly complained with a mouth full of rice. Melissa nudged him.

"At least pretend we're not white trash," she told him.

"We're only half white trash."

Melissa punched him in the arm. Jeremy did the same back to her, and she hit him again, harder. He flinched, rubbing his arm and ceasing the fight.

"Do you have any siblings? Do you understand the hell I have to deal with every day?" Melissa wondered.

"I have only one sister, she's in college though, but yeah. I understand." Danny felt a twinge of loneliness. He missed having Jazz around. Even though she was always hogging the bathroom and up late at night doing schoolwork, always in his business and barging in without knocking and how overprotective she was. Hm. Maybe he didn't miss her? No, no. He did miss her. Only a little though.

"God I wish I only had one sister," Jeremy complained. Melissa punched him again. "Ow! Fuck off, this is why! Actually, Danny, thank you so much for being here. Between these gays and seven sisters, I'm about to mcfreaking lose it. I need back up."

"I will go against you every single time now, out of pure spite," Danny informed him. Jeremy made a face.

"Then become the dirt I walk on," he said.

"I will become quicksand and devour you," Danny replied.

"Thanks, I'd love the chance to die. You should join me."

"Foolish human, I die on command every day," Danny half-bragged. It was technically the truth.

"Bold of you to assume I'm human." Jeremy shoveled another giant spoonful of rice into his mouth.

"Being a little bitch still means you're a human," Danny said. Jeremy didn't reply. He choked on his rice as he tried to not laugh.

The distinct sound of a cell phone vibrating caught Danny's attention, and Jeremy immediately reached into his pocket to pull out his. He stared at it for a moment, looking confused before answering it. To Danny's surprise, Jeremy began to speak in a language he didn't understand. Melissa watched him, a bit concerned. He held up a finger and stood. Jeremy took his bowl of rice and walked away as he continued the call. Melissa followed him, taking her drink with her.

"Hey!" Kennedy's voice distracted Danny from the apparent situation. He and Rachel both looked to see the redhead coming over with his tray of food, looking annoyed.

"Hey, you caught me. I stole you seat again," Danny confessed.

"This isn't about that," he insisted. He set his tray of food on the table, but he didn't sit down. He stared at Danny with a scowl. "I wanna know what your deal is, where you came from, and whether you're one of the scholarship poor kids or somebody worth my time."

"My deal is that I want your seat, I came from the realm of chair thieves, and I am worth your time because I will never cease to end my goal of stealing every single seat you will ever have in your life, both physical and metaphorical." Kennedy didn't look amused, staring hard at him. Danny gave a fake, dramatic sigh. "Alright, alright. If you insist, Horny-"

"My name is Kennedy! As in, _President Kennedy_!"

"We all know you're not really related to them, Horny, give it up," Rachel butted in, boredly. Kennedy shot her a glare.

"But, my deal is that my godfather paid for me to come here so that I can get a good education," Danny explained. "My family's a regular middle class one." Kennedy dropped his annoyed look in exchange for one of interest.

"Who's your godfather?" he questioned. Danny shrugged.

"Vlad Masters," he replied. Kennedy's eyes widened, and Rachel seemed a bit surprised.

"Oh, I had no idea!" Kennedy's entire attitude changed with this revelation. It made Danny want to roll his eyes. "I apologize. I had no clue that your godfather was political friends with my dad. He's one of the Illinois state Senators."

"Oh, you didn't need to tell me that. I could tell you're related by how much you kiss ass like he does," Danny replied modestly. Kennedy's face soured briefly, but this time, he didn't let it stay. His smile was forced.

"Somebody of your status would be much better off socially if you stopped hanging around the scholarship kids," Kennedy replied. He gestured to a table. It had some semi-familiar faces that Danny recognized from his classes, but he only knew Sophie's name. "You're welcome to come sit with us." Danny glanced at the table.

"Nah," he replied. Kennedy frowned.

"Surely you don't understand-"

"Nope, and I don't really care," Danny interrupted him. He made a shooing motion. "Bye, Horny." Kennedy glared at him.

"It's _Kennedy!_" he corrected him once more with a scowl. Regardless, he picked up his lunch tray, and he began to walk away. Danny let him get several steps away.

"...Hey Kennedy?" Danny called out with a false sincerity. Kennedy turned towards him curiously. "Bitch."

Kennedy glared at him before continuing to walk away.

* * *

Jeremy and Melissa ended up not returning for their lunch, but he still enjoyed Rachel's company until the bell rang. They had to part ways, Danny going to his locker when the first incident of the day truly happened.

His ghost sense went off. Duty called.

He shut his locker door closed, and he began to make his way for what he was now dubbing the dumpster alley. Students around him were piling into their classes, giving little care as to what he was doing.

Danny watched for the camera. After it lazily moved away, he rushed for the door. Danny swatted at the leaves of the plant, trying to quickly push them out of the way. A leaf smacked him in the face, and he scowled.

"God, fuck off, I did nothing to you! Leaf me alone!" he complained, struggling to push his way past the leaves. He found the door's handle, and he began to push it open.

Danny fumbled his way into the open side yard, sighing heavily as he looked around. Inside, he could hear the bell signaling for class to begin going off.

"Hey dude."

Danny nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice. He spun on his heel to see Jeremy sitting on the brick bench, smoking. He wasn't in his school uniform anymore, now in dark jeans and the familiar dark green polo shirt of a local grocery store chain's uniform, complete with a name tag.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in class already?" Danny questioned. Jeremy eyed him.

"Shouldn't you?" he asked back. Danny winced.

"Fair point," he sighed. Jeremy took a puff.

"I don't have afternoon classes," Jeremy explained. "I tested out of all their possible math classes. So they send me to take a math class at the community college after lunch. Then after that, I normally gotta go to work." He exhaled, seeming exhausted by how the rest of his day was going to unfold. Smoke blew up in the air.

"You work?" Danny questioned. Jeremy didn't seem like he had the energy to make a snarky comeback, just nodding.

"Yeah, I gotta help pay bills," he replied. Jeremy coughed briefly before taking another drag. Danny mentally chuckled at the small irony of that. "So what's your excuse?"

"...I'm tired of this place," Danny admitted. Despite having a new friend group already, to his surprise, and somewhat enjoying the classes, the good food, it just...it just kinda sucked. "I miss my old school, I miss my friends. I didn't wanna come here, but I was forced into it. I hate the uniforms, I hate being watched. It just sucks, and I wanna go back." Jeremy gave a shrug.

"_Boohoo_. You were forced to go to one of the greatest high schools in America, where the name alone gets the interest of top colleges and that can open the doors to all sorts of scholarships and opportunities," Jeremy's voice dripped with that familiar dry sarcasm, and Danny flinched. "All for the low, low cost of what? Your godfather paying for your full tuition? So no pressures to even be a top student."

"...I just, uh...I...I dunno…"

"What do you want in life?" Jeremy interrupted his thought process. Danny blinked.

"...I'd love to be an astronaut."

"Then you're in the right place to get that. Polter Heights has a good physics and science program, and you're likely to get into a top college with amazing programs that'll let you do that." Jeremy took a final drag of his smoke before putting it out on the bench. He stood to toss the butt in the dumpster. "So either shut up, drop out and let somebody who's been busting their ass off come in on a scholarship, or nut up and embrace this once in a lifetime opportunity."

Danny looked up over the fence near the dumpster. He could see the tall fence and the light glow of the ghost shield that protected the school. Him being able to escape was unlikely. And what the hell was he expecting to even do once he got out? By the time he could slip out, the ghost was probably going to be gone anyway. He glanced back at his peer. Jeremy was staring at his phone's clock before he finally sighed, slipping it back into his pocket.

"I gotta bounce. Might wanna head to class," Jeremy advised as he stood up. Danny took a step over to plop onto the bench with a long grumble.

"I might just skip," he confessed. "I need to think."

"I'd do your thinking in class," Jeremy told him. He moved to the door, raising an eyebrow at Danny. "You know they call your parents if you're super late to class or skip, right?"

Danny's eyes widened in horror.

* * *

"Ready for school, Mr. Fenton?" the ghostly chauffeur asked.

Danny angrily flung his bag into the limo before crawling in. He shut the door behind him, grumpily crossing his arms. Indeed, as Jeremy warned, he had gotten a phone call home for being over five minutes late to class. Resulting in getting chewed out by his parents that night, lots of pleads and promises and eventually threats of being grounded if it happened again.

"Take me to the airport this time," he demanded. "I wanna hitch a flight away from this hellhole." Lars chuckled in amusement.

"Where you flying to?"

"Brazil. I'm gonna start a new life as Denny Benton."

Lars burst into laughter, and Danny couldn't help but smile as well at his own stupid joke. The limo glowed a familiar green, and soon, they were off to school.

Danny leaned back in his seat. Like before, there were donuts, and well...a boy's gotta eat. He grabbed one to eat as he scrolled through his phone's messages. Messages of encouragement from Jazz and Tucker. Valerie saying she missed him. A cryptic message from Sam, saying she had a surprise for him? He replied asking for details, but she didn't reply.

Lars pulled up to the parking lot, and Danny sighed, sinking into his seat. The fence, that ghost shield, the cameras. God, how was Amity Park ever going to be safe when he was in literal prison?

"Do you wish to do a repeat performance of yesterday, or will you cooperate and go to school?" Lars questioned.

"I'm still deciding," Danny replied. A knock on his window distracted him, and Danny glanced. His eyes widened, and he scrambled to open the door.

Before him stood Sam, in Polter Heights uniform. Black skirt, with approved shoes and leggings. Red button up shirt with a black sweater vest, smiling brightly at him.

"Hey!" she chirped warmly. Danny's eyes watered, and he fumbled out of the limo and towards her. He immediately hugged her tightly, and she happily returned it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, absolutely floored. Sam smirked.

"My parents have been wanting to send me here since freshman year. And since they haven't found out you're here yet, they were very, very eager to immediately transfer me when I asked," she replied. She grabbed his hands, squeezing them excitedly as they interlaced their fingers. "And Tucker starts Monday. He got in on a scholarship!" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Tucker doesn't have that great of grades?" he wondered.

"Yeah! That's the best part! It's not just based on grades! If you accomplished something major or have proven yourself in some way, they'd let you in on scholarship! We spent all night tweaking the programs he made for our ghost hunting so they'd be not-ghost related, and submitted it. And he gets to come with us!"

Danny heard a window roll down behind him, and he turned.

"Not to interrupt, but I'm guessing you're going to cooperate and go to school?" Lars questioned. Danny grinned.

"Yeah!" he agreed. He reached into the limo to grab his backpack and shut the door, thanking the ghost for the ride. Lars wished him a good day, and he began to drive off.

"Was it bad yesterday here by yourself?" Sam questioned. Danny thought for a moment, and he shook his head no. He offered his arm to her, and they linked together.

"Nah, it wasn't that bad. But there's some people I'd love to introduce you to. Come on, we don't wanna be late."


End file.
